Panic Fest celebrates its 14th anniversary in seven short days! All the action returns to Kansas City from April 9-15, with over 140+ features and short films. Tickets are currently on sale, and the lineup looks to be big, better, and bloodier than ever before.
Scrolling through the full lineup, there are countless films just waiting to frighten you (perhaps literally) to death. Ahead of the festival later this month, here are the 10 most anticipated films of the event. What are you most excited to see?!
Cat Cam
Director: Sara Werner
When two cat owners decide to put up pet cameras in their new home while they’re away on a trip, they soon make a terrifying discovery as to why their cat has been acting so strange.
Cruel Hands
Director: Al Kalyk
A psychological social thriller about a mother and her young son escape from an abusive husband to an isolated farmhouse, only to find themselves trapped between him and a raging bushfire that surrounds them.
Dead Media
Director: Joseph Scrimshaw
A troubled young woman wants to relax by streaming an old horror movie. Her lonely Gen X uncle demands they watch it on DVD. But the disc is haunted, plunging them into a movie night that won’t die.
Don’t Sleep Alone
Director: Talo Silveyra
After her father’s suicide, Sami begins to suffer from sleep paralysis, unleashing a terrifying presence and a secret buried inside her home.
Find Your Friends
Director: Izabel Pakzad
Amber and friends visit Joshua Tree for a fun getaway but face hostility from locals. As the tension escalates, they uncover Amber’s past trauma, igniting their rebellion against toxic masculinity, turning their trip into one of revenge.
Jump Scare
Director: Donnie Hobbie
The female metal band ‘JUMP SCARE’ retreated to a remote cabin to write their next album only to be terrorized by the family of cannibals next door.
Big Baby
Director: Spider One
Successful horror screenwriter Adam struggles for inspiration until a terrifying nightmare about a masked killer sparks an idea for his new script. As he delves deeper into the story, the line between reality and fiction begins to blur.
Dead Bloom
Directors: Domonic Paris and Damien Paris
Dead Bloom unfolds as a socially charged horror story about the lingering effects of environmental contamination and corporate denial. Set across generations, the film follows a family living on land poisoned by a buried chemical compound. As the contamination seeps into soil, fruit, and bloodline, the story evolves into a chilling allegory about capitalism, exploitation, and survival. It shines a disturbing, yet relevant light on corporate malfeasance and environmental injustice, turning them into modern folklore.
Demonetize
Director: Alexander Watson
Out-of-work television ghost hunters discover the key to getting their jobs back – and proving ghosts are real – is by working with the last group of people anyone would expect: Social Media Stars.
Free Buffet
Director: Zoe Berriatúa
Xian and Ikki are an Asian couple with an all-you-can-eat buffet threatened by bankruptcy. Their problems seem to be solved by an improvised plan:killing all their enemies. But…what if they themselves are their own enemies?
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